14 Quirky Coffee Shops

In our current food-obsessed era, one expects a delicious snack and expertly brewed coffee at every turn, whether it's at a bike shop, beer store, or yoga studio. Check out these passionate entrepreneurs who have incorporated their love of coffee into other successful businesses. Can't get enough coffee? Get your java fix, with these revved up recipes using coffee.

BrainWash Café; San Francisco

BrainWash Café; San Francisco

After learning that San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood lacked a Laundromat, Susan Schindler, a former caterer, abandoned her plans to open a nightclub and started the BrainWash Café instead. Customers running the spin cycle can order beer, wine, or locally roasted America's Best coffee, and place a food order from an expansive all-day menu that starts with scrambled eggs and cinnamon French toast for breakfast, and transitions into lunch and dinner with fried fish tacos topped with tomato-chile sauce. The nightclub idea didn't totally disappear: Each night, BrainWash hosts live entertainment, with a spoken word open mike on Mondays, standup comedy on Thursdays, and local bands on Fridays and Saturdays.

Cafe Tango/Union Square Donuts; Somerville, MA

Cafe Tango/Union Square Donuts; Somerville, MA

In addition to running the dance school upstairs (for which the café is named), owner Vicky Magaletta prepares casual Argentinean dishes from 4 p.m. onward. Choices include stuffed seasoned beef empanadas, anchovy tostados (traditional sandwiches made with very thin bread), an array of fresh-baked desserts, and South American maté served hot or cold. Most of Café Tango’s events — such as open mike poetry readings, Thursday cooking classes, and Friday blues and jazz concerts — take place in the evenings. So Magaletta decided to share the space during the day with a new local favorite, Union Square Donuts, which hawks its doughy treats, along with bracing Counter Culture coffee, from Thursday to Sunday. Although the flavors are somewhat esoteric, like maple-bacon and cherry-hibiscus, these raised doughnuts are made the old-fashioned way: Each one is rolled by hand, and made with Cabot butter and whole milk.